Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives

  Last year, I reported a problem I was having with my ABS.  See this thread and this thread.

  Not covered in either of these threads is that since then, I did take my car in to a dealer to have the wiring harness recall done. The dealer determined that the wiring harness was fine, and declined to replace it.  I think I have determined that the cause is some component that is near one of the wheels, which fails when it gets wet.  Also not reported in the aforementioned threads is that on one occasion, I had my car washed, and instructed the kids washing it to avoid spraying water on the wheels.  That is the only time that washing the car did not trigger the ABS problem.

  It is still my unfulfilled intent to try, at some point, spraying one wheel with a garden hose, going for a drive, and repeating the process with each wheel, until I determine which wheel it is that is near the failing component.
 
 
  Yesterday, however, I learned something new about this failure.  It only occurs when the A/C compressor is engaged.  We're having very wet weather here the last few days, and so I have had this problem occur.  But this failure is only occurring when the HVAC controls are set to either one of the A/C positions or one of the defrost posistions.  As long as I don't set the HVAC to one o fthese positions which use the A/C compressor, the ABS light does not come on, and I have physically verified that the ABS works correctly.  As soon as I set the HVAC controls to a position that uses the A/C compressor, the ABS light comes on, and the ABS is disabled.

  What can the A/C compressor possibly have to do with the ABS?  Might this be a useful clue in helping me to diagnose the ABS problem?

My 96 has similar symptons. The A/C will trigger the ABS light from time to time. A dealer I took it to quoted me $2700.00 to fix it. I also was told the wiring harness under issue, was not needed, but other harnesses were needed, along with a new HCU (ABS controller). It is a labor intensive job, hence the high price. The controller is buried in a bad spot, or I would have cleaned the main controler harness connector and try to seal it up better. This is where my light is triggered from when it rains for a while.